Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has talked about the Bo Nix injury a lot.
Maybe, a little too much, revealing that Nix was “predisposed” to the ankle fracture that ultimately cut his season short. Nix later clarified those comments from Payton and it seems like everyone has moved on.
That doesn’t mean it stings Broncos Country any less.
Denver had a real shot to go to the Super Bowl, but Nix broke his ankle in an OT win against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. He had to sit out the AFC Championship, with backup Jarrett Stidham scoring only seven points in a frustrating 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots.
Sean Payton joined Pat McAfee at the NFL Combine on Thursday and provided even more insight on how everything went down. The whole clip is worth watching, but the juicy stuff starts at the :50 second mark. A fair warning that McAfee uses vulgar language at the beginning of the video.
"I knew something was up after I did my presser but I didn't know what it was..
It was such a numbing feeling that it was Bo Nix who got hurt and it was so unfortunate" @SeanPayton #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/iwvptoHeAc
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 26, 2026
“It was kind of this surreal feeling or numbing if you will,” Payton told McAfee. “Cause so many things had just gone on. You just won a big game, but you just lost your quarterback. Shoot, it’s unfortunate, it’s one of those deals.”
Sean Payton held a second press conference after the Bills game where he announced the awful news. But it makes sense why he did it, rather than having a major NFL insider leak the story later that night or the next day.
Would the Broncos have beaten the Seattle Seahawks for the Lombardi Trophy? Maybe, maybe not. But Nix would’ve given them a shot to win a title.
Nothing can change the past, but this is going to be a story all the way until training camp, when Nix and the rest of his Denver teammates get to start the journey towards a Super Bowl once again.